Sol Activity Summary: Each morning, the first object I see when I look
out the east window is the silhouette of Phobos Peak Rock as the
rising sun lights it up from behind. We had a beautiful sunrise this
morning and Phobos Peak Rock emerged all the more majestic than usual.
I was happy to remember that it was our approved geographical
destination for our EVA. We conducted another 3 crew EVA and walked to
Phobos Peak. We then explored its surrounding areas, discovering a
curious aluminum object near the peak, which we returned to the
habitat for investigation. Winds became violent shortly after our
return, but we celebrated our successful EVA safely inside our habitat
with a dish of quinoa peppered with oregano from the GreenHab.

Look Ahead Plan: We will continue conducting 3 crew EVAs and mapping
radio strength and connectivity. We will also continue our
collaborative projects.

Anomalies in work: Heavy winds caused minor damage in the tunnels,
which we repaired. Heating system in the habitat has been working on
and off; it appears to be working now but we will continue monitoring
it.

Weather: Snow melting; clear in the morning but clouds and heavy winds
developed in the early afternoon.

EVA: A walking EVA was conducted at and around Phobos Peak. We
continued our communication protocol to assess radio strength and
connectivity in areas around the habitat. Our EVA was almost exactly
two hours.

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Field Season #18

About The MDRS

The Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert was established by the Mars Society in 2001 to better educate researchers, students and the general public about how humans can survive on the Red Planet. It is the second Mars analogue habitat after the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station was established in 2000.

Over 200 crews of six-person teams have lived in 1-2 week field visits at MDRS to simulate life on the Martian surface. Researchers and students alike have explored the Mars-like terrain in the area surrounding the station in full “spacesuits”, maintained the station’s systems, grown plants in the GreenHab to support themselves and even recycled their waste water.

Our activities at MDRS are not only about informing the public, but also conducting real research to bring humanity that much closer to the reality of human exploration on the planet Mars.

Annual field seasons at MDRS run approx. October through May. Anybody can apply to be on a crew, and we also need volunteers to help with the project.